Pat Buchanan On Fox News: “The Minority That Is Griping” About NC Bathroom Bill Should “Simply Deal With It”
Buchanan Says North Carolina Is Being Unfairly Pressured Over Bathroom Bill Like States Were Over MLK Day
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
From the May 9 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto:
NEIL CAVUTO (HOST): You have the state of North Carolina suing the government, the government in turn suing the state of North Carolina, all over the use of a bathroom and whether transgenders can use the bathroom of their choosing, regardless of their biological makeup. The North Carolina government made clear that they felt that if you have, are male biologically you should use the men's room, female biologically, you should use the women’s room, regardless of what sex you feel is the case. That was immediately seen as an overreach on the part of the state there and obviously brought a great deal of contempt, canceled were a number of conventions, businesses that plan gatherings in the state saying it was unfriendly to the LGBT community, and unfriendly to gays period. It has morphed into something that is much bigger than anyone thought, but the bottom line is, rather than resolve this in a quiet way that wouldn't involve any laws whatsoever, now you have a state suing the federal government, the federal government suing a state. Pat Buchanan, this is a mess. What do you make of it?
PAT BUCHANAN: I think the Department of Justice, and I hope the Obama administration gets stuffed on this one. Look, the idea that grown men have a right to use girls’ locker rooms and girls’ bathrooms and all the rest of it it seems to me is ridiculous. There is no need, there is no great crisis here in America. And to compare this with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, I go back to those days and the Voting Rights Act and Selma in '65 is ridiculous. I mean, there is going -- something is going to happen out of this, Neil. Some character is going to go into some girl’s room or ladies room and some terrible incident is going to occur, and there is going to be a terrible backlash. This country existed for, what, 200 and some odd years and we haven't had any problem with this. Why can't the minority that is griping about it simply deal with it?
CAVUTO: You know what was interesting to liken this and the Jim Crow laws and what have you, I mean, to put that community in with those who suffered to racism --
BUCHANAN: Well that is really an outrage.
CAVUTO: But I guess the bigger point is here, couldn’t this have been avoided altogether without establishing laws, one way or the other?
[...]
BUCHANAN: I must say, this is almost a parody to listen to this whole thing described as the great battle for civil rights. I saw -- I was at the March on Washington in '63. I was in any number of these things, these collisions, it was a great occasion and great movement and to compare that is to compare the sublime to the ridiculous.
[...]
BUCHANAN: Look, let’s take the Martin Luther King Day, 48 states wanted it, Arizona voted no and New Hampshire voted no. Let them vote no. But instead we're going to take away the Super Bowl, and they use all this force to come down when I think the best thing to do is let the people decide. Let the community decide. It’s called the principle of subsidiarity.
Previously:
A Comprehensive Guide To The Debunked “Bathroom Predator” Myth
Gov. McCrory Forced To Admit That The Conservative Media “Bathroom Predator” Myth Is False
NY Times Editorial Board Calls Out The “Lunacy” Of Anti-LGBT Bathroom Bills